Notes of gratitude to some of the people who have generously supported and inspired me in my art practice and creative process, in ways that are tangible, mental, spiritual—and that I will attempt to capture in words but never truly could:
Thank you to my mom, who was my first example of what joy and love of creativity looks like; who kept the drawers of the kitchen dressers stocked with papers and stamps and glue and paints; who, growing up, would take me to the pond with the bridge, and the Corner Bakery nearby, so we could sketch and write together and watch the swans and geese; who maintains a thriving blog of art, music, and poetry and a mycelium of fellow poets and artists; who inspires me with her daily practices of drawing and gratitude; who takes photographs of dewy spiderwebs and rippling water and yawning pups; who brings her neighbors together with community gatherings, celebrating exciting milestones in people’s lives and the changing of the seasons; who gave me a necklace with Emily Dickinson’s “‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers” inscribed in it that helped me hear the bird; who encouraged me to sign up for a sculpture class at Montgomery College post-undergrad (a medium which has since brought me unimaginable joy!) and later, drove to the MC campus to get extra copies of a course catalog that had a photograph of my sculpture in it; who knit a beautiful scarf for my girlfriend, who cherishes it and wears it every chance she gets; who describes herself as my biggest cheerleader and always makes me know it to be true through her lovingkindness; who I hope knows I am always rooting for her, too, my heart’s #1 foam finger raised up and swaying with pride and admiration!!!
Thank you to my dad, who filled our home with my siblings’ and I’s childhood drawings to celebrate our imaginations and give us our very own art show (see pictures below from the exhibit, including ladybugs and camels drawn in ways you have likely never before seen); who took a wheel throwing class with me and shared the joy of learning a new craft together; who fearlessly practices the art of slowing down and noticing, inviting a world of owls and frog eggs and streams to his fingertips; who generously invites me to witness and admire the owls and frog eggs and streams he has found together; who endlessly impresses me with creative, innovative handmade cards—from reverse glass painting to wielding a magnifying glass and the power of sunlight to burn a message onto paper; whose love of language has soared him through hundreds of hours of audiobooks shared at the dinner table and on family video calls; who is the only person I know who can make an Excel spreadsheet feel like a hug; who meticulously examines and cleans the glass of frames before tucking my prints beneath it; who patiently sat for me while I sculpted my first miniature bust; who offers feedback that consistently makes my art stronger and more itself; who makes me feel like what I have to say and to make matters.
Thank you to my sister, Ariana, who endlessly inspires me with her poetry, her craft, and her radical love of all beings; who gave me my first commission (of a painted night sky, a wedding gift for friends); who writes poetry even when she is not writing poetry; who stays up to write the poems that fly to her and need a place to land in the pages of her notebook; who sees the tree rings in a human fingertip and recognizes each bird call as she pets the cat in her lap—in each purr and contented hum, a song of reverence for the gifts of time and interconnectedness of all things; who shows love to strangers and friends at every turn, with the wisdom and knowledge that mutual aid and community care are the future’s beating heart; who curated a poetry anthology for me that nourishes me with Lucille Clifton, Joy Harjo, Ada Limón, Mary Oliver, Danez Smith; who writes cards that are so beautifully crafted to say “I see you, I love you,” that you know to keep a box of tissues nearby when you read them; whose pictures of light inspire the admiration of walls and floors across continents, and belong in a museum or another place that feels like home; who creates personalized rituals for her dear ones to lovingly, perfectly make tangible the meaning of endings and beginnings; who curates playlists and bookshelves with such care and intention that they are themselves works of art; who always calls me back to myself; who makes every movie we watch together my new favorite movie because we watched it together; who reminds me how to breathe deeply; whose voice notes are like a healing salve; who I could talk to and giggle with forever.
Thank you to my brother, Dash, who was my first creative partner; who never treated my admiration and hopes to be just like him as his little sister as annoying, but instead included me in his storytelling and filmmaking; who makes me laugh while giving me a piece of wise and helpful advice that I have to write down; who carries humility despite having won almost every board/card/trivia/video game our family has played in my living memory; whose propensity for imagining and creating new worlds began with drawing maps in Inkscape as a kid and has bloomed to running grassroots political campaigns and writing policy to materially and meaningfully improve people’s lives; who not only answers questions thrown to him about seemingly any event in recorded history, i.e. harbors human encyclopedic tendencies, but does so in a way that makes others understand and nod at their enjoyment of learning; who may or may not have been the source of no less than half my wardrobe at times where I was exploring my sense of style and had started shopping at the “boy”’s section of stores; who let me pour out my worst fears to him in the times I was afraid of my own mind and would patiently tug the anxious thoughts out of my brain—his reassurance like a rake pushing thick algae from a pond’s surface so the fish can feel the oxygen in their gills again.
Thank you to Nes, my co-cultivator of this lifetime’s garden and the next and the next, who makes me want to draw so I can try to capture the warmth of their gaze and never succeed; who makes me want to sculpt so I can push clay into the shape of their cupid’s bow and almost feel it broadening into a smile; who is a poet and a comedian, though she considers herself neither, and makes me feel like a poet and a comedian, too; who unearthed a universe of joy in me that grows and grows each day I get to spend with them; who gave me a new appreciation for the color gray; who decorates walls of their room with all the art I’ve given them, down to the paper it was wrapped with; who makes me laugh at least a hundred times a day; who makes me feel safe to be as silly as I want and will always “yes and”; who creates new languages with me; who has a green thumb, not only for plants, but for generosity and tenderness, even when they could not taste the fruits and smell the flowers of it; who inspires me with her passions for guitar and boxing and cooking and gardening and engineering and life; who tells me that my art is special and important with such a look of earnestness and love in their eye that I have to believe them; who gives me a million points; who sends me pictures of bugs and skies; who gives food a richer taste and spices a lovelier scent; who gives the moon a face; who dreams with me and is my dream; who was made of the same stardust as me.
Thank you to Matthew, Ariana’s soulmate and life partner, and a dear friend; who inspires me with his reading and writing practice; who takes the time to notice the patterns and wishes of animals, a care that shines in his care of sweet Lion and in his photography of birds; whose glowing reviews from his students every semester are a testament to his kindness, diligence, and the excitement and generosity with which he shares his knowledge; who I am overjoyed to be my family.
Thank you to Viv, who ; who so generously offered to bring my logo to life after seeing the sketch in my notebook and then digitized and vectorized it to perfectly align with my vision; whose paintings of the family, including our pets (I am gazing fondly on Lucy and Preston’s portrait as I write this), brim with tenderness; whose outfits are always elegant and accented by warm gold (and who always will share where she got each part when I inevitably ask out of admiration!);
Thank you to Robyn, who is a sister to me; who has encouraged me to reach for the stars since the day we met on the moon; with whom soaking in the wonders of museums has been a staple of our friendship—from the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History a decade ago to The New York Historical a month ago; who so kindly researched art schools I might like when I was considering the possibility; with whom I have had the joy of singing to music in the car and feeling the bass in my ribcage—her car’s speaker a fast friend in rehearsal down time or on our drive together up to the piercing shop so she could hold my hand; who introduced me to the miracle of arepas and hot honey on pizza; who rejoices in bringing her loved ones together and planting new buds of friendship; who laid in bed next to me and listened to SZA and chatted about life when it was all I could do and just what I needed; who appreciates the willow and the turtles and the flowers before the rest of the world has woken; who writes poetry that captures the wonder of metamorphoses; who continues to bloom.
Thank you to Masha, who ; who ; who P.S. you can check their work out at mashadreams.com!
Thank you to M, who fights tirelessly to make the world more materially and spiritually safe for the trans and queer community through their advocacy and policy work, research, clinical work, and public speaking; whose garden of work is rooted in the art of listening—each root’s tendril formed from a deep understanding of the importance of listening to and uplifting the voices of those most impacted, weaving it in the mycelium of community care; who spends their time with such grace and intention that it makes you wonder about time machines; whose knack for finding new concerts has led to some of my most cherished memories of live music; who decorates their walls with vibrant prints and hopeful, grounding messages; who embodies the verb of love.
Thank you to Lauren, who
Thank you to Maureen, who inspires me with her ; who is brave enough to
Thank you to Sierra, who created new worlds with me as a kid and ; who
Thank you to Makori, who
painted wooden boxes with me; who
Thank you to Soph, who inspires me with her storytelling, comedic timing, nail art, cooking, and knack for finding the best spots to explore; who always has kind words for the art I send her; who sparks joy in her Pomeranian Audree far too vast to contain in her wiggling fluffy body.
Thank you to Willow, who inspires me with her
Thank you to Ashlee and Kit
Thank you to Rachel, Jennie, Eman
I would also like to give thanks to artists who have inspired me throughout the years:
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